Most people won't realize how brilliant Flipsit is. I realize Flipsit is meant to be a product you use in your home, but it's a shame public places don't use it on their toilets, too. Even the cleanest public bathroom is cleaned less than once an hour. Some toilet seats are only disinfected a couple of times a day. The toilet seat in your home is probably disinfected only once a week! Why does that matter? Because 99% of antimicrobial sanitizers don't work properly. Even Purell which is used in more public establishments than any other brand has a dirty little secret. Purell and all alcohol-based sanitizers will kill 99.99% of germs, but as soon as the alcohol dries, their protection vanishes. And germs will multiply until the bathroom is cleaned again. With Flipset, you never have the touch the toilet set. So your chances of infection are greatly reduced. It's a shame the US Government Center for Disease Control (CDC) has supported and promoted the use of alcohol-based sanitizers even though they know full well alcohol-based sanitizers only kill germs for the 5-7 seconds the alcohol is wet. Once the alcohol dries, the protection vanishes! Of course, the same is true in your own home if you use an alcohol-based sanitizer on your toilet. That's why Flipsit is such a clever product. It helps protect you against germs where they are sure to lurk. Buy this from here- http://bit.ly/12Imnge Here is a link that might be useful: Flipsit

Energy Star ratings are not too helpful. The Fisher & Paykel RF201ADUX, rated next to last by Consumer Reports overall for bottom freezers including French door models, costs $68 a year to operate. The most efficient model in that group, the Liebherr CS1650, costs $48 a year. Worse than an energy-inefficient refrigerator is one so ugly, thoughtlessly-designed, and unpleasant to use that it winds up in a landfill or a recycling center prematurely. Turn down your thermostat 2 degrees F in the winter, buy the Fisher & Paykel, and be happy that the planet has come out ahead and you are living within your means. If I were the CEO of Fisher & Paykel I would hire an independent laboratory to do real tests of refrigerators, including anechoic chamber noise ratings of all cycles (something you cannot assess in a showroom), and real-world energy efficient tests, using calibrated and certified Fluke dual-channel digital thermometers with Omega thermocouples. Here is a link that might be useful: Energy Star Appliances May Not All Be Efficient, Audit Finds

Hi todds, Unfortunately the answer to your questions are not so cut and dry. Many of the bulbs that we carry have not been tested to LM79 standards as of yet and therefore the exact lumen output of the bulbs, even if one is given by the manufacturer, can be suspect. That is why we try to provide an equivalency rating, done through in house testing, on most of our products. On the dimming issue the same thing applies, while companies like Cree give a dimming percentage it may not be exactly that under all circumstances. Different dimmers, the number of bulbs on the circuit, how good the wiring is etc. can all make a difference in how well the lights dim and down to what percentage. For instance, some people may need to use an ELV dimmer when only using one or two LED downlights on a switch whereas four or five on a switch will dim fine with a standard incandescent dimmer. Therefore it's quite difficult to make a claim on dimming percentage when the manufacturer is not specifying the dimming percentage and what dimmers are tested and compatible. The R30 we carry does have a downloadable spec sheet where the dimming percentage is listed as 5% (link included below). As stated above, I can verify that the R30 does dim particularly well. Fortunately the market and standards are evolving rapidly. By the middle of next year, new labeling requirements will mandate that bulb packaging carry a label listing lumen output, wattage etc. on the front of the packaging. A paradigm shift will take place as consumers stop thinking about brightness in terms of wattage and start thinking about it in terms of lumen output. Hope this helps to clarify some of the issues currently present in the LED market. Here is a link that might be useful: R30 LED Light Bulb Spec Sheet

Thanks to everyone for your input. So many helpful suggestions. I have ordered a bunch of samples -- Duro and a couple other kinds of cork, two brands of linoleum, and... rubber! nosoccermom, I will also think about a painted wood floor. It's a look that I love, though it may be a bit "country" for our apartment. Interesting to hear from checkerboard-floor folks who regret the decision... we have B&W vinyl now, in our "before" kitchen, and we have never had a problem keeping it clean. Maybe I just have lower standards than most! ;-)